Sheryl Smith is not a conventional candidate for Durham City Council. When she talks about Durham, she starts with her kids. She is a single Black mother who has devoted her life to raising both her own children and fostering others from different parts of her family. 

For more than two decades, Smith has been a relentless advocate for children, taking on the powerful institutions that shape their lives including the school system, the Durham Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services. Her fight began with her first-born son, who was suspended from school and later lost his life to gun violence in Durham. 

Out of that profound loss, Smith transformed her grief into purpose, becoming a powerful voice for justice and equity. Today, she continues to champion the rights of her foster children and all children in Durham who have been failed or mistreated by the very systems meant to protect them. Smith said the safety of all children in Durham is what inspires her to speak out. 

Smith’s son, Todd Antonio Douglas, was a junior at Hillside High School when he was suspended for the entire school year following a confrontation that occurred in the cafeteria. Administrators tried to label him as the “leader of a gang,” Smith said. He was sent to Lakeview, an alternative school for children who struggle in traditional school settings, while Smith fought to reinstate him at Hillside High School.

As Smith tried to prove her son’s innocence and get him back to Hillside, Douglas was murdered in a drive-by shooting on Nov. 5, 2005. 

There were multiple people involved with the murder and all but one walked away without any charges, Smith said. 

“They let them walk away, didn’t charge them, didn’t order them to do anything. No community service, you know, something, just let them walk free,” she said.

The same system that failed to protect her son has also caused Smith emotional turmoil over the past 20 years with her foster children and adoption efforts, she said. 

Smith has had multiple adopted children in her care over the years, ranging from grandchildren to nieces and nephews. She argues that the Department of Social Services in Durham has had a negative influence on her foster children, resulting in multiple removals from her home due to allegations of abuse. Smith claims that there is no proof of abuse in her household and continues to fight to get her children back in her care.

“They have kept my babies away from me for the last two years for no reason. All this is because they have grudges against me, and they taking it out on my babies,” said Smith. “If something go wrong in the schools I stand up and disagree with them. All of a sudden I’m in trouble. End up in court or something.”

Smith decided that she would put her name on the ballot for city council in the hopes that people would start to pay attention to the misdeeds of the officials who make decisions regarding the lives of children in Durham.

“I chose to run for city council to make awareness of where the problem really lies,” said Smith. “[The elected officials] don’t work with us. We are there. We get out here and advocate and have to beg for resources and activities in our communities, just so we can keep our children safe. And we still don’t get that. They don’t do anything. They work against us and not with us.”

Rafiq Zaidi, a strong supporter and friend of Smith, is a candidate in Durham’s upcoming Mayoral election. Zaidi defends Smith’s fight for her foster children and the children of Durham. 

Zaidi discussed Smith’s involvement in the community as an activist and organizer for the Durham youth.

“She’s been a jewel. She’s been a gift to the community. I mean, she don’t only invest her health, her life, but she actually invests all of her finances, just about all of her money that she makes as a care worker goes back into the community,” he said.

After Smith’s son was killed in 2005, she moved to Franklin Village apartment homes in Durham. It was there that she helped transform community safety in the area by organizing activities for the children that lived there, creating a safe space for them to play after school, she said.

She said the space in the apartment complex that she and other mothers in the area created, led to a decrease in gun activity.

“We went from having shootings everyday to no shootings for 11 years, no shooting,” Smith said.

When new management took over the programs were dismantled, she said. Supplies were thrown away, the center was locked and violence returned.

Even after moving to a new residence, Smith continues her fight for young people. Her most pressing battle remains the effort to reunite with her foster children.